Photograph of lumber piled up and the skeleton of a building being framed during the rebuilding of the Barnet Mill after the fire of 1909. The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
Photograph of lumber piled up and the skeleton of a building being framed during the rebuilding of the Barnet Mill after the fire of 1909. The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
Photographic postcard of a labourer grappling with a large log on the log chute at the Barnet mill. The caption to the card reads: "A Good Size Log / Barnet B.C." The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
Photographic postcard of a labourer grappling with a large log on the log chute at the Barnet mill. The caption to the card reads: "A Good Size Log / Barnet B.C." The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
Photograph of the village of Barnet at the mill. The caption stamped at the top of the card reads: "Barnet, B.C. from the Hill." The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
Photograph of the village of Barnet at the mill. The caption stamped at the top of the card reads: "Barnet, B.C. from the Hill." The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
Photographic postcard of the line of buildings burning at the North Pacific Lumber Company, with flames and smoke visible rising from the structures. A caption stamped at the top of the postcard reads: "Mills burning at Barnet BC. 1:30a.m. May 6th, 1909."
Photographic postcard of the line of buildings burning at the North Pacific Lumber Company, with flames and smoke visible rising from the structures. A caption stamped at the top of the postcard reads: "Mills burning at Barnet BC. 1:30a.m. May 6th, 1909."
Photographic postcard of the mill at Barnet. The caption stamped at the top of the card reads: "Our Mill and Harbor. Barnet B.C." The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
Photographic postcard of the mill at Barnet. The caption stamped at the top of the card reads: "Our Mill and Harbor. Barnet B.C." The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
This portion of the interview pertains to Florence Strachan's early years, her move to Burnaby and her husband's employment at the Barnet Mill.
Date Range
1899-1931
Length
0:09:59
Interviewer
McLeod, Ross S.
Bradbury, Dr. Bettina
Interview Date
June 20, 1975
Scope and Content
Recording is of an interview with Florence Strachan by Ross S. McLeod and Bettina Bradbury, June 20, 1975. Major theme discussed is: The Depression. To view "Narrow By" terms for each track expand this description and see "Notes".
Biographical Notes
Florence Strachan was born in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1899. She met and married her husband in Scotland before coming to Atlantic Canada by ship in 1922, then from Quebec to Vancouver by train.
When Florence’s husband got a job at Barnet Mills in 1924, the couple moved to Burnaby and rented a house at 2551 East Hastings Street. In 1926, the Strachans bought a house at 290 Ellesmere Avenue and concentrated on paying it off as quickly as possible.
By 1931 the Mill had shut down, leaving Florence’s husband out of work, and forced to go on Relief. By this time the couple had two children, one born in 1928, and the other in 1930. Florence and her husband marched and picketed with the unemployed throughout the Depression.
Bettina Bradbury teaches history and women's studies at York University. She is the author of Wife to Widow. Lives, Laws and Politics in Nineteenth-century Montreal. (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, June 2011), 520p; Working Families. Age, Gender and Daily Survival in Industrializing Montreal. (Toronto: Canadian Social History Series, McClelland and Stewart, 1993); (Republished Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1996) (3rd edition, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007). These interviews were undertaken after she completed her MA at Simon Fraser University in 1975 with the support of an LIP grant.
Interview was digitized in 2010 allowing it to be accessible on Heritage Burnaby. The digitization project was initiated by the Community Heritage Commission with support from City of Burnaby Council and the BC History Digitization Program of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, University of British Columbia. It was recognized by the Heritage Society of BC with an award in 2012.